The second of two maps for the Underground Railroad Detroit Alternative Bicycle Route are now available.

As you may recall, this Adventure Cycling bicycle route begins in Mobile, Alabama and heads north to Oberlin, Ohio. Previously the route only went east, entering Ontario at Buffalo. The Detroit alternative route heads to Toledo, Adrian, Ann Arbor, and Detroit.

“We’re thrilled to offer this new alternate route between Oberlin and Owen Sound. Cyclists can now experience even more landmarks and historically important communities along the Underground Railroad,” said Carla Majernik, Adventure Cycling’s routes and mapping director. “The route also follows the Lake Huron shoreline to Owen Sound, which is an incredibly scenic ride.”

“Detroit is an important highlight on the new route for its historic relevance and its contemporary efforts to improve conditions for cyclists,” said Ginny Sullivan, special projects director and lead staff on the UGRR project. “Increasingly the city has invested in bike lanes, greenways, urban agriculture, and natural parks, making it an even more attractive stopover for touring cyclists on the new route.”

Running through many smaller communities in northwestern Ohio, southern Michigan, and southern Ontario, the Detroit Alternate creates a cultural heritage corridor that not only offers education and recreational opportunities for people of all ages, but also promises increased tourism to the communities along this iconic corridor.

Unfortunately bicyclists cannot currently get across the Detroit River without a car, so the route heads north to the ferry service in Marine City, Michigan.

This week’s events

Adventure Cycling’s executive director Jim Sayer is coming to Detroit to help promote the new maps. You’re welcomed to attend these events, but please RSVP as they are starting to fill up.

• Wednesday, February 22 – Troy, Michigan
  Regional gathering from 7-9 pm at the Troy, MI REI — 766 E Big Beaver Rd. Troy, MI.
• Thursday, February 23 – Midtown Detroit
  Mixer and regional gathering from 5:30-7:30 pm at Traffic Jam and Snug — 511 W Canfield St. Detroit, MI.

Sayer will also be on the Craig Fahle Show on Thursday as well as (hopefully) many other media outlets, especially with it being Black History Month.

New bike tour loops

Always thinking for new excuses to bike tour, Adventure Cycling blogged about how this new route opens up some tour loop possibilities.

This tour could easily begin in Detroit, cross the border to Windsor, Ontario, ride south to Leamington or Kingsville, take a ferry to Sandusky, Ohio then ride northward to return to Detroit. The fly in the ointment in this idea, hence the Chance label, is that currently there is no way to ride your bicycle across the border between Detroit and Windsor. In order to do so, you’ll have to hire a taxi to take you and your bicycle from one country to the other. Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways Coordinator at the Michigan Trails and Greenway Alliance?suggests, “Another option is to use the Transit Windsor bus. They will allow bikes on the bus under some restrictive rules, however, the bus drivers do have some discretion. If the bus is not crowded and the bike can be secured on board, they may take you. If I were doing the route, I would try my darndest to get to Windsor. I just wouldn’t want to miss out on their UGRR history.” There are plans to add ferry service to this border crossing. When it is implemented, we’ll let you know.

To complete this 270 mile tour you’ll need UGRR Detroit Alternate Sections #1 & #2 maps.

There are bike lanes planned for the city of Detroit that are expected to be completed this year. Here’s a run down of those projects.

Midtown bike lanes

The below projects all tie together to create on consistent north-south bike route from Cass Tech to New Center. Though not a bike lane, phase II construction of the Midtown Loop will begin this year, extending the pathway south on John R and on Canfield from John R to Cass. The segment along Cass is now phase III.

Second Avenue from Grand Boulevard to Palmer – The street is being returned to two-way travel with bike lanes added for most of it. There is insufficient road width north of the railroad underpass so sharrows will be used.

Anthony Wayne Drive from Palmer to Warren – Bike lanes will be added.

Third Avenue from Warren to Ledyard – This segment will become all two-way with bike lanes.

Cass Park – All of the streets surrounding the park will receive bike lanes.

Conner Creek Greenway

Another phase of this eastside greenway is being constructed this year. This time the portion between 6 Mile and 8 Mile is the focus. E. Outer Drive and Conner Avenue below the Milbank Greenway (which is just north of E. Outer Drive) will get bike lanes.

Trumbull Enhancements

Bike lanes will be added to Trumbull from Warren Avenue north to about Holden. We haven’t seen the drawings, but that’s what we’ve heard. The City has said they would look into continuing the Trumbull bike lanes from Warren south to MLK though there is no timeframe for that.

Safety Improvement Projects

These are the safety projects we’d mentioned earlier. There is one additional public meeting to discuss safety improvements to West Chicago from Spinozza (Rouge Park) just about to Livernois. That meeting is Monday, February 20th from 5pm to 7pm at the Don Bosco Hall, 19321 W. Chicago. We’re told the plans for W. Chicago include bike lanes but we don’t know to what extent yet. We do know they make a great east-west connection to Rouge Park which has great roads, pathways, and trails for biking. Spinozza also connects with W. Outer Drive, another great Detroit biking road.

Dix Road from Waterman/W. Vernor to Woodmere – This is basically an extension of the existing bike lanes on W. Vernor which provides a connection with the pathway in Patton Park.

Central from W. Vernor to McGraw – Only portions of the Central will get bike lanes. At times the road is too narrow so sharrows will be used instead. Central become an even more critical biking route after the Detroit International Freight Transfer Project (DIFT) closes nearby Lonyo Road. Central is also part of the proposed Inner Circle Greenway route that encircles the city.

E. Seven Mile from I-75 to Gratiot is also a safety improvement project but there was insufficient room to add bike lanes. However, like the roads mentioned above, the designs are such that they encourage motorists to drive more prudently.

If the Detroit-based club Grown Men on Bikes didn’t already have the coolest name, they now have this sweet theme song.

Warning: They drop an MF in there, so it may not be safe for your workplace.

In 2010, the city of Detroit applied for road safety funding and were successful. Building on this success, Detroit applied for seven safety grants last year and received six. The city’s plan is to add Complete Streets features to these roads to improve safety.

There are two public information meetings this week to review the newly improved road designs.

We’ve seen the 7 Mile designs and they are mostly improved crosswalks, no bike lanes. Our suggestion will be to stripe the parking lane to make it a de facto bike lane when no parked cars are present.

From Detroit Traffic Engineering:

Monday, February 13, 2012, 6pm to 8pm

The meeting is at LA SED – Green Site, 7150 West Vernor, Detroit.

The Safety Improvement Project are:

• Vernor Ave (Lansing to 20th Street) Corridor
• Dix Ave (Woodmere to Waterman) Corridor
• Central (W Vernor Hwy to McGraw Street)

FREE Raffle for restaurant gift certificates donated by El Nacimiento, courtesy of Rodrigo Padilla, and Nuestra Familia, courtesy of Jorge Canchola.

Come to this open house to learn more about plans for traffic and safety improvements along the three corridors, including new crosswalks, upgraded traffic?signals, and changes to striping and lane use on Vernor, Dix and Central. This project is intended to promote pedestrian and vehicular safety and the vitality of the area.

For more information, contact Ghassan Khalaf at 313-224-1268

Thursday, February 16, 2012, 6pm to 8pm

The meeting is at St. John Conner Creek Village, 4777 E. Outer Drive, Detroit.

The Safety Improvement Project are:

• E. Seven Mile (I-75 W. Service Dr to Vandyke) Corridor
• E. Seven Mile (Vandyke to Gratiot) Corridor

Come to this open house to learn more about plans for traffic and safety improvements along this corridor, including new crosswalks, upgraded traffic signals, and changes to striping and lane use on E. Seven Mile Corridor. This project is intended to promote pedestrian and vehicular safety and the vitality of the area.

For more information, please contact: Stella Kulangara at 313-224-1733

A new event from the Bikes and Murder scheduled for March 24, 2012 from 10am until 6pm at Cobo Center.

Detroit’s first Bicycle Show and Swap Meet. Offering 100+ vendors from all over the midwest an opportunity to show, sell and swap bicycles, parts, and everything bikes. This event is held at Cobo Center and brought to you by Detroit’s own Bikes and Murder.

Link to the Detroit Bike City web site (More information, registration, etc.)

Link to the event on Facebook

[Ed. The first bike show in Detroit was actually in 1896, but this is the first one in a while.]